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I CHLINY' -- Il Wy } | Ti 29 AR fh PN OH LLL Appl Yl 4 q r ) ! a TTD | ss TL iN | : ne it Y 'eer | | VOL. 48 CLEVELAND NOVEMBER; 1918 NEW YORK No. 11 gines lor Our Ship Launchings Have Run Away from Ship Delivces and the > Gap Must be Closed --A New Problem of Growing Importance UCCESSFUL prosecution of modern warfare drains so thoroughly the resources of any na- tion that it becomes almost impossible to dif- lerentiate between the relative importance of a (ozen or more industries. The agriculturist can prove to his own satisfaction that the farmer has the most vital war job and no one will attempt to lisprove his point that an army without food can- tot remain an army. But equal basis remains for regarding the steelmaker, the shipbuilder, the coal miner, the railroad operator, the chemist, the tim- berman, and dozens of others in essential industries, as vital to military success. No discussion of the essential character of the work of men in different occupations can fairly imore the shipbuilder. The lesson of "ships and nore ships" has been hammered home so effectively ito the minds of all Americans that those engaged in ship work. occupy almost a_ preferred position. A New Crisis in Our Ship Program The public conception of what that term means wll have to be broadened to meet a critical condi- on which has been long under development and which is now approaching a crisis. Shipbuilding 'Ssuch, the act of forming and assembling steel 'id wood. into a shape capable of floating, may lave to step from its throne or at least share its 'oyal seat with its twin. The engine builder, the itaker of marine equipment, must receive an equal veasure of the fostering care which brought the "upbuilder into this present state of power. ,ffom the outside, inspection of the work of the -Pping board has revolved naturally around its M8 program of shipyard and ship construction. The early dissensions and mistakes focused the ublic attention on this arm of the government, an 'tention which remained and grew more impatient elays as the war spirit gained momentum. hie w Subsidence of the Hog island criticism, the 'g "splash" on the Fourth of July, the shipping igs 48] _board's own wisdom in giving wide publicity to its accomplishments in ship and yard building, and the official announcements of our growing mastery of the submarine, have dulled the keen interest formerly taken in the board's program. To the general public, the shipbuilding plans of the gov- ernment have been carried to a complete success. The same records, issued by the shipping board, which are beginning to unfold a vigorous story of success in making the United States the world's greatest shipbuilding nation, tell also the story of what is now the biggest obstacle still confronting Mr. Hurley's department. It is the problem of closing the gap between launchings and deliveries. Deliveries Are Far Behind Two-thirds of the ships launched for the shipping board since August, 1917, or since the present or- ganization took control, have been completed and placed in service to meet the national needs. One- third have been launched but not completed. The shipping board has been giving serious con- sideration to the question 'of building more engines and of building them at a pace that would match ship launchings. The shipyards have not begun to reach capacity, so that the present margin between ships launched and ships delivered may widen in- stead of narrow unless a prompt success meets the efforts to promote the manufacture of engines and auxiliary equipment. An analytical study of this question is presented in the following pages. An interesting and new point brought out is the decision to embark upon a more thorough plan of experimenting with internal combustion engines. The shipping board would do well to take the public more into its confidence on this question of engines. Let the board remove the growing impression that we may find more diffi- culty on the Kriemhilde line of marine engine building than we did on the Hindenburg line of ship construction.